Qantas has banned a Melbourne man from flying with them after he asked to be removed from a flight taking an asylum seeker from Melbourne to Darwin for deportation.
Paul Leary has filed a complaint with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal's human rights division, on the grounds that the ban discriminates against him on the basis of his political belief.
The 51-year-old was booked on a flight on February 2 this year and arrived at Melbourne Airport to find asylum seeker advocates handing out information about a Sri Lankan man who was on the flight.
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Mr Leary said that while [a] protest was taking place, he and his business partner decided they wanted to leave the plane because they were not comfortable with the man's treatment.
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Four days later, having made it to Darwin with a different airline, the pair went to Darwin airport for their Qantas trip home to Melbourne.
Mr Leary said a Qantas manager told them they could not board their flight because they were subject to a no-fly ban and a security review.
But pretty obviously, this isn't a "security" issue, but a political one. Leary is being punished for politely expressing disapproval of Qantas' actions. Hopefully the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal will make it clear that this is not acceptable. Otherwise I suppose there's always defamation action.
In the meantime, don't fly Qantas, because they're arseholes.